John Boehner

The Des Moines Waterworks has spent millions of dollars removing nitrates from drinking water drawn from the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers. Recent surges in nitrogen in the water have required the utility to repeatedly fire up the largest nitrate removal system in North America. The waterworks has warned for years that unless improvements were made upstream, the utility would sue northern counties in the Raccoon River Watershed.

We published a series of stories over the past couple weeks examining how families arrange for child care in Buena Vista County. We found that there is a need, especially since Gingerbread House closed and was taken over as an early childhood education center by the Storm Lake School District. And, we found that the need is met better in smaller burgs than it is in Storm Lake.

It is hard to fully appreciate why the Storm Lake Planning and Zoning Commission is so committed to declaring a block between Methodist Manor and Buena Vista University as “institutional.” The block along Lighthouse Drive, facing Scout Park, is a mix of nice homes and a BVU parking lot. The neighbors want the current residential zoning to stay as it is. Methodist Manor actually prefers the residential designation over institutional.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said most undocumented young Latinos are drug runners in an interview earlier this week with the conservative website Newsmax.

King said of Latino immigrants:

“For every one who’s a valedictorian, there’s another hundred out there that weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”